Chapter 55

“I thought you didn’t want me anymore.” Little Snake’s eyes were red-rimmed as she whined pitifully, clutching Ah Wan’s sleeve. “Chi Li told me you don’t like saying things out loud.”

At this point, Little Snake looked up at the cold-faced woman before her and murmured softly, “But a human’s heart is tiny, and it holds so many, many things. If it can’t hold anymore, it’ll explode.”

“And if you keep things in your heart and don’t tell Snakey, Snakey won’t know what you’re thinking—because Snakey is a little bit stupid.”

Little Snake said this because she’d been brooding over it all along. That day before she left, at the kitchen doorway, her Human had spoken to her and put a little flower on her—it was meant to reconcile.

But she was too stupid at the time and didn’t realize it.

Ah Wan’s heart ached. She reached out to wipe the tears from Little Snake’s face, sighed, and replied, filled with guilt, “It was my fault.”

“You’re not stupid. I wasn’t good enough, wasn’t brave enough.”

She’d become independent far too early, learning to wash clothes, cook, and work the fields, but no one had ever taught her how to speak love aloud. Even less did anyone teach her how to fight for it or hold on.

Grandma’s love was like a rolling mountain range—range after range, stretching endlessly, silent and profound. It weighed heavily on her heart, burying every girlish secret deep inside.

In her adolescence, Ah Wan lost her grandma and couldn’t get along with her birth parents. Her personality twisted almost overnight into something painfully self-conscious and insecure. She would rather regret something forever than take the first step.

Back then, Ah Wan often grieved alone at night, thinking: No one in this world would ever be worth casting aside her pride, opening her heart, and laying bare all those bittersweet feelings.

Her joys, angers, sorrows, delights—only she would ever know them.

—Until she picked up a clingy little white snake on the mountain.

Ah Wan fell into a long silence. Countless overlapping figures appeared in her mind: her tiny self chasing after her parents, crying and begging them not to leave. Later, just standing silently at the doorway seeing them off. And even later, no one at the doorway at all.

Those harsh words replayed again and again in the still, lonely nights, tormenting her till agony, the very culprit behind her growing silence.

—”Things are tight at home. We have to go out for work to earn money. You wait here, and once we’re settled, we’ll come fetch you.”

“Mom, Dad, you must remember to come get me. Don’t leave me here.”

—”You’re the older sister now, practically grown. You have to be mature. Your little sister is still young; she can’t be apart from us.”

“But I was still little then, too.”

—”How did your temper get so strange? Who wronged you? Was it us?”

“…”

When she lifted her head again, Ah Wan’s mind and eyes held only the fair-skinned girl standing before her. Her glistening gaze brimmed with tenderness as she looked firmly at Little Snake.

In the next second, she cupped Little Snake’s face, leaned down, and kissed her. She took that soft, pink mouth between her lips and licked it—no trace of lust, as if merely seeking comfort.

Then, pressing close to Little Snake’s ear, she spoke in a trembling, uneasy voice:

“Don’t abandon me.”

“I can’t live without you.”

“I have a bad temper. I’ll change. Please…”

The words she’d suppressed in her youth, never spoken aloud, she now whispered over and over in her lover’s ear at twenty-eight:

“Little Snake, let’s never part, okay?”

Little Snake clearly sensed Ah Wan’s insecurity. She hummed an agreement, then took the initiative to cup her face and kiss her. A little bashfully, she replied, “Then this Mid-Autumn Festival, Snakey will make a wish too—”

“Human and Snakey, together forever.”

Ah Wan was silent for a moment, then finally spoke: “Mm.”

Together forever, never apart.

Walking out of the plaza, they strolled side by side along the osmanthus-lined path, wrapped in the thick, sweet scent of blossoms.

Ah Wan looked down, silently tore open a package, and held out a candied strawberry skewer to her, watching with eyes full of fondness.

“Wow!” The little one, who’d just been merrily making wishes, was instantly entranced. Her eyes sparkled. “Big strawberry! Human, how did you know Snakey wanted this big strawberry?”

She reached out and took it.

Ah Wan let go, switching hands to carry her schoolbag. “Take it off.”

“Oh.” Little Snake swapped hands and obediently slipped off the schoolbag.

Ah Wan hung it from one hand, held the Awakened Lion Lantern in the other, and impatiently grabbed Little Snake’s hand with her free one. Every two steps, she turned to glance at her.

Afraid it all might be a beautiful dream.

“Mmm, this is so yummy.”

Little Snake tasted the first bite. Finding it delicious, she immediately lifted it to Ah Wan’s mouth. “Human, you try some too.”

Ah Wan hesitated, then bent down to eat it, but her gaze never left the girl.

“Good?” Little Snake asked eagerly.

Ah Wan licked a bit of sugar stuck at the corner of her mouth, nodded lightly, and hummed in affirmation.

Truthfully, she didn’t care for these sweets. Even as she replied, her eyes were fixed intently on Little Snake’s lips. Meaningfully, she said, “Delicious.”

Then added, “Not enough. I want more.”

“Then Snakey will give it all to you.”

Without hesitation, Little Snake stood on tiptoe, offering up the treat she loved so much, her expectant face bright.

Ah Wan’s lips moved, but she didn’t bite the offered strawberry. Instead, she squeezed Little Snake’s soft palm and steadied her breath. “I’ll eat it back at the hotel.”

“Alright then.” Little Snake pulled it back. Holding the stick, she nibbled the strawberries in small bites, her cheeks puffed out adorably. “So where do we go now? Home?”

“Home is too far. The hotel first.”

Ah Wan hailed a taxi.

Once inside the hotel, Little Snake had finished the strawberry. She tossed the stick into a trash can and clutched Ah Wan’s hand, looking around everywhere.

Ah Wan swiped her card in the elevator, pressed the floor number, and then pinned Little Snake firmly at her side, not letting her move.

“Human, what are we doing here?”

Little Snake clung to her arm, tilting her head up curiously.

“Eating.”

Ah Wan answered succinctly, then looked down at her fluffy hair, the possessiveness in her eyes thick and impossible to dissolve.

Ding—the elevator doors opened.

Ah Wan strode out, pulling Little Snake. She swiped open the door and without the slightest hesitation yanked her forcefully inside.

One hand with prominent knuckles suddenly pressed against the door. Without explanation, Ah Wan trapped Little Snake in her embrace. Her other hand kneaded her waist as she dipped her head to seek her lips.

“You just said you’d give me a big strawberry.”

“Mmph!” Little Snake instantly caught on. Pressing her lips together, she looked regretful. “Sorry, it’s all Snakey’s fault—my mouth was too greedy. I couldn’t help finishing it all.”

Ah Wan took a deep breath, staring at her relentlessly. “Then what should I do? I really want to eat right now.”

“Snakey will go buy some—”

Little Snake turned to open the door, but before she could, the human behind her suddenly pressed forward, pinning her dead against the door.

“Where to?”

Ah Wan embraced her from behind, resting her chin on Little Snake’s shoulder, nuzzling her intimately and lazily. Her long, slightly callused fingers lightly lifted a corner of her top.

Rough, heated fingertips gently stroked warm, cool, exquisite skin. Ah Wan wrapped an arm around that slender waist, lowered her head, and caught her earlobe between her teeth, lightly grazing it before blowing a puff of air inside.

“Be good. Let me taste the strawberry flavor in your mouth.”

Little Snake lay against the door, her hands instinctively curling into slight fists. Slowly, bit by bit, she turned her head back. Her large, bright eyes were glistening and limpid.

She said nothing at all, just slightly parted her lips—inside, that pink snake tongue flickered faintly, visible yet not.

Silent permission.

Ah Wan freed one hand to pinch her cheek and leaned in, kissing her in a frenzy.

Teeth and lips inevitably knocked and bumped, but right now she didn’t care about any of that. Her sole focus was that slick snake tongue tangling with her own.

She wrapped around it, licked it—yet it still wasn’t intimate enough.

She wished she could tear the other apart and swallow her whole.

Ah Wan sucked hard, hooking that snake tongue and drawing it deep into her throat. The stimulation set her whole body ablaze with heat. Her palm pressed flat against Little Snake’s soft belly, kneading wantonly.

Clothes meant to resist the cold now seemed nothing but a nuisance. They craved to hold each other tight with nothing between them.

After a long while, Ah Wan released her. She nuzzled Little Snake’s cheek with the high, delicate bridge of her nose, her voice low and dripping with temptation. “Shower first?”

Little Snake was still pinned against the door, her back flush against that human’s chest. She tilted her face sideways and answered softly, her voice meltingly tender. “I’m a little out of strength.”

“I’ll carry you.”

Ah Wan bent down, scooped her up with one arm, and strode into the bathroom, kicking the door shut with her foot before setting her carefully on the vanity counter.

This height was perfect. Ah Wan could hold her snugly in her arms, gently knead her hair, and gnaw on her bit by bit with her teeth.

First the tip of her ear, then her cheek, her chin… finally lowering her head to bury it in the crook of her neck, nuzzling lightly, then sinking her teeth into her collarbone without hesitation—like marking her own possession.

She wanted every inch of Little Snake to be soaked in her scent, until there was no telling where one ended and the other began. That was what she wanted.

Little Snake’s fragrant shoulder lay half-bared. She was forced to tilt her head back, fine, broken hums escaping her mouth.

Her throat bobbed gently—tantalizingly.

Ah Wan held her tight, extended the tip of her tongue to lick, then slowly moved downward, using her teeth to grip the zipper of her top and pull it down inch by inch. Her eyes, however, remained locked with Little Snake’s the entire time. Her body gradually pressed lower, assuming a posture of submission.

Little Snake looked down at the human before her. The lower that body sank, the heavier her breathing grew.

Especially when she saw Ah Wan grasp her legs and bury her head—at that moment, her heart felt like a rocket shooting into the sky.

Just seeing that scene had already blanked her mind in pure bliss.

Little Snake’s lips parted as she panted hard, her palm-sized, exquisitely delicate face flushed crimson.

Ah Wan’s teeth unzipped her top, but she didn’t go further. Instead, like a predator, she rose again, drawing closer little by little.

“I bought it.”

Ah Wan’s tone was nearly paranoid, crazed. Her finger lightly tapped the tiny butterfly bow right at the center of the pure white bra, then she looked up at Little Snake.

“Mine.”

Little Snake stared back at her, innocent and dazed, then suddenly understood. Her gaze gradually cleared as she nodded, panting softly. “Mm, yours.”

She then wrapped her slender arms around Ah Wan’s neck, unknowingly arching her small chest. Her eyes drifted back into a daze as she tilted her head into a kiss.

In the flawless, unblemished mirror, the two figures clung tightly together.

Little Snake’s waist was unbearably soft—a light touch would send her collapsing backwards, but she was always caught and pulled back in time.

Ah Wan hugged her waist, burying her face in her embrace. The bathroom filled with faint sounds that made one’s cheeks flush and ears burn.

Little Snake held Ah Wan, kneading through her long hair. Her waist alternately went limp and taut. Sounds soaked in desire escaped her throat. “Mm~ this side too, need more here too…”

Yet Ah Wan suddenly stopped at this moment. She lifted her head to look. The possessiveness and obsession in her eyes were near overflowing, tinged with an irrepressible thrill.

“Baby, you’re soaked through.”

“I can smell your scent now…”